


Two For The Price Of Four

by top_me_daenerys



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F, Kid Fic, but nothing you can't handle, maybe just a wee bit of angst, y'all i swear this is mainly fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-02-28 03:41:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 16,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22507231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/top_me_daenerys/pseuds/top_me_daenerys
Summary: Emily wants their kids to have Lindsey's smile.Lindsey wants their kids to have Emily's laugh.Everyone else just wants to be the favorite aunt.
Relationships: Lindsey Horan/Emily Sonnett
Comments: 27
Kudos: 192





	1. Morning Sickness

It was a struggle to get Lindsey Horan and Emily Sonnett together. 

Both girls were oblivious to the other's feelings for years. But it wasn't hard for their friends, teammates, and even family members to see the way Sonny's head ducked, a bashful smile on her face, whenever someone mentioned Lindsey or the way Lindsey turned a bright red when Mal would jokingly ask when they were getting married. 

Hell, even Vlatko seemed to know what was going on. 

At least, that's what Kelley O'Hara would say if you asked her about it. 

And according to Alex Morgan, Kelley was always right, especially when it came to Lindsey and Sonny's relationship. 

Which might be due to the fact that Kelley was the reason they got together.

She got fed up with the lovey-dovey eyes and pushed them into a storage closet after one of their practices, screaming, "DON'T COME OUT UNTIL YOU KISS!"

Kelley would recount later that the look on their faces was hilarious. Sonnett looked like a confused puppy while Lindsey looked like she was about to punch the door down. It might seem cliche, but being locked in the storage closet together did, somehow, result in their first, awkward, kiss. Sonnett accidentally missing Lindsey's mouth entirely and somehow kissing her chin instead, which made Lindsey laugh so hard that Sonnett had to grab her head and hold her still to kiss her properly. 

So another USWNT couple was born. Once they were officially together, it seemed like nothing could stop them. Not the distance between Portland and Orlando nor the haters on social media. 

Two years into the relationship, Sonnett proposed. Right after they won the 2023 Women's World Cup. Like, on international television. The picture of Sonny down on one knee, looking up at Lindsey hopefully as the taller girl had an American flag wrapped around her shoulders, a shocked look on her face went viral the next day. 

If you asked Sam Mewis about it, she would tell you that it was probably the best moment of her life--and probably in the top three for Lindsey. 

Under a year later, Sonnett and Lindsey were married. It was a beautiful wedding. They got married in the Winter, Sonnett in a dashing white suit and Lindsey in a beautiful, flowing dress. The colors were red, gold, and black--reminiscent of their Portland Thorns days. It wasn't a giant wedding, but everyone that was important to the couple was there, dressed formally. Sonnett almost felt bad for spraying Mal with a bottle of champagne, but it was her wedding so fuck it. At Sonny's request, they served gourmet waffles for dinner. Kelley, as Sonnett's maid of honor, told everyone the story of how the couple got together. 

They took a short honeymoon to Iceland--which Sonnett confused with Greenland--but had to get back to the states to train for the 2024 Olympics in Paris. As soon as they got back, Sonnett got news that she was being traded back to the Portland Thorns. It was bittersweet news. She was excited to be back playing with her wife but was going to deeply miss the relationships she created at Orlando. She, especially, was going to miss being around Alex Morgan and Kelley O'Hara's little girl. 

Being around their daughter made Sonnett yearn for her own child. Her and Lindsey had agreed that they both wanted kids but their lives were so hectic they knew it wouldn't happen for a while. However, at night, as she lay next to Lindsey, her dreams were full of colorful children's toys and cribs with little tiny elephants all over. 

The 2024 Olympics were rough, they came home with a Silver medal and a bruised ego. The 2024 Thorns season was even rougher, Sonnett ending the season with an ankle injury that left her reeling for answers. It was a trimalleolar fracture. One of the worst injuries that she had ever had. The image of her deformed ankle was etched into her mind for years. 

Lindsey didn't leave Emily's side for one moment as she was rushed off the field on a stretcher. They had to do surgery, putting pins and screws into Emily's ankle to keep it together as it healed. 

That first week of being injured sent Emily Sonnett into a downward spiral of depression. Lindsey had to force her out of bed to shower after three days of not moving from their bed. After that first week, Lindsey got so concerned she called Kelley, who, with Alex and their daughter, came right up from Florida. While Lindsey went to practice, Kelley, Alex, and their daughter, Greer, who had just turned four, kept Sonnett company. 

Greer was a small child. She had Kelley's freckles scattered around her face and Alex's eyes. She and Sonnett had a special bond, Kelley said it was because Sonny had the mental capacity of a four-year-old. Greer could definitely tell that Emily was feeling down. She wouldn't leave her side. 

"Sonny," Greer's high pitched voice rang out from the kitchen as Sonnett lay on the couch, her face down into the cushion, her bad ankle was up on the other end of the couch, the cast was red. It only had one little signature on it, Greer's. "Mmhmph," was the only response that Sonnett could muster. 

"I made pizza," Sonnett turned her head to peer into the kitchen. Sure enough, little Greer stood in the middle of the kitchen with her mother, Alex, holding up a plate that had a single piece of pizza on it. She slowly turned over so she was sitting up like a normal person, blinking blearily at the little girl as she placed the plate carefully in front of Sonnett. 

It was the first time since her injury that she felt a spark of hope coming from her chest. She knew right then and there that she wanted a kid. 

That night, when Lindsey came home, Emily rushed into her arms (as fast as she could on crutches). Surprised, her wife hugged back, rubbing Sonny's back. Alex, Kelley, and Greer were already asleep in the guest room of their small, rented house. Sonnett grabbed Lindsey's face to keep her head still, just like the first time they kissed. 

"I want a baby," Sonny said, a slightly crazed look in her eyes. Lindsey's eyes widened, her mouth dropped. 

"Are you sure? We've only been married a year and a half and I--"

"I'm sure. I knew I wanted to marry you and have a family with you the moment we met." Lindsey's eyes swelled with tears, "Let's have a baby, then."

They decided that Sonny would carry, at least their first child. They started going to a reproductive endocrinologist before Sonnett was even off crutches. 

Reciprocal IVF was the route they chose. But it was expensive. 

While Sonnett healed, went to physical therapy, and even started to show up at some Thorns practices again, the women were saving up big time. They took every promotional deal they could. Until they saved up enough money for the procedure. They went together to the clinic to pick their sperm donor, an anonymous man who gave Lindsey strong Sonny vibes. 

They took ten eggs from Lindsey, froze eight of them, and put two fertilized eggs into Emily's womb. 

A few weeks later the pregnancy test came out negative. 

They weren't deterred, though, going straight back to the clinic to repeat the process. 

The same result. 

This time, Emily was frustrated. She quietly blamed herself all week for her wife's dejected gaze. 

When they went back the third time, Lindsey held Sonny's hand and told her it was okay if they weren't pregnant this time around too--that no matter what happened, they would be in this process together. 

A few days after the appointment, Emily started to get violently nauseous in the mornings. For a week she would run from her bed to the toilet, vomiting loudly, while Lindsey held her hair back and whispered sweet things in her ear. 

"Do you think it worked?" Sonnett asked quietly one morning as she lay her head against the cool surface of the toilet seat, Lindsey stroking her neck quietly. 

"I don't wanna get our hopes up," Lindsey whispered back. Sonnett nodded. 

Late one afternoon, two weeks later, while Lindsey was at a promotion for the Thorns, Sonny had finally had enough. She took one of the many pregnancy tests that she and Lindsey had bought together, went into the bathroom and peed on a stick. Her hands were shaking as she washed them, not even daring to take a glance at the pink and white stick placed on the counter. Her heart a ball of nerves, she puffed out a sigh and left the bathroom, stress eating a bowl of cereal. After starting at the empty bowl with a little bit of milk left at the bottom, she found the courage to walk herself to the bathroom. Her hands were shaking so hard that she thought she might drop the test. 

She gave the text one hard look before she really did drop it. 

It was positive. 

Her hands flew to her stomach. A life was growing inside her. 

An hour later, Lindsey walked through the door, a bouquet of flowers in her hands. She quietly hummed to herself as she took off her jacket and hung it up on the coat rack. 

"Sonny? I'm home. I have something for you." Lindsey grinned to herself as she looked down at the red roses in her hand. 

"I'm coming!" Sonnett rounded the corner, her hands behind her back, a wicked grin on her face, "I have something for you, too." Lindsey laughed, giving her wife the flowers, then taking her into her arms and spinning her around, her arms wrapped around Sonnett's front from behind as she swayed them, humming the same song as before. 

"What'd you get me," Lindsey asked after a moment of peace washed over the couple. Sonnett took the pregnancy test out of her pocket and turned around in Lindsey's arms so she was facing her wife. "Here, be careful. I peed on it." She thrust the test into Lindsey's chest. Lindsey let go of her to take the test and read it, then looked at her wife, shocked. 

"It... it worked?" Her voice cracked as her eyes flooded with tears. Emily nodded.

Lindsey instantly dropped to her knees, grabbing her wife's hips tightly as she pressed her ear to her stomach. Sonny laughed quietly, "You can't hear them yet..."

Lindsey didn't care. "Hi, little one. It's your momma. I'm gonna love you forever," her voice was thick with tears.

Sonnett gently reached out and started to caress Lindsey's hair softly as she continued to quietly talk to the child forming in her wife's womb. 

It was a moment Emily Sonnett would never forget.


	2. Two Pairs of Kicks

Lindsey and Sonny didn't want to start telling people about the addition to their family right away. 

But with the constant grin on both their faces, it wasn't hard to figure out that something was up. 

Tobin was eyeing them, suspiciously, at the next Thorns practice. Lindsey was following Sonny around like a lost puppy, getting her water, running after the ball when Sonny kicked accidentally kicked it away--even tying her wives shoes, double knotted. Half-way through the practice, Lindsey stood off on the sidelines, furiously rubbing at a spot of dirt on Sonny's cheek. Her wife was whining, trying to swat her away. Tobin rolled her eyes.

"What is going on with you two?" Tobin crossed her arms, raising a questioning eyebrow. Lindsey jumped, surprised by the voice. Sonnett's eyes widened, a giddy, guilty smile stretching across her face. "Hobin Teeth!" 

Tobin's eyes narrowed, "What are you hiding?" Lindsey wrung her hands, nervously, "Heh, nothing. Same old Horan and Sonny."

"You've been mothering your wife all day! It's kind of concerning." 

"You please, you're telling me that you don't help Christen out?" Lindsey scoffed, folding her arms. 

"I don't tie her shoes for her." Sonnett gulped, looking down at her double-knotted shoes. 

Emily and Lindsey looked at each other. Lindsey shook her head, Sonny gave her pleading puppy dog eyes. Lindsey sighed and crossed her arms, letting her wife win their silent battle. 

"I'm pregnant." Sonnett blurted out. 

Tobin's jaw dropped. 

"Your--" Tobin's eyes shifted down to Emily's stomach, "oh my God." The older woman rushed forward, pulling them both into a tight hug. "A little Soran baby." 

"You're... choking... me," Sonnett got out, trying to push Tobin's arm off of neck. "Oh! Sorry." Tobin sheepishly backed away from the couple. 

"But you can't tell anyone, Tobs. I mean it!" Lindsey threatened, wagging her finger at the older woman. 

"Not even Christen?" It was Tobin's turn to give them puppy dog eyes. "Only Sonnett's puppy dog eyes work on me." Lindsey crossed her arms again. 

Tobin let out a loud sigh, "Fine, you can trust me. I better be the godmother." 

"Revenge is a dish best served cold," Sonnett stated, the other two women looked at her, confused. "C'mon! The Godfather?" Putting on her best imitation Sonnett said, "You talk about vengeance. Is vengeance going to bring your son back to you? Or my boy to me?" Her hands moving wildly around. 

"Oh Jesus," Lindsey brought her hand to her temple, rubbing it. "Your kid's gonna be a dork," Tobin said to Lindsey who just sighed, "I wouldn't expect anything less."

Kelley was the next to find out. More like figure out. 

The O'Hara-Morgan family was visiting Portland and staying with Lindsey and Emily for about a week. Lindsey picked them up from the airport while Sonny stayed behind and cleaned up the guest room of their apartment. As soon as Kelley burst in through the door, holding Greer in her arms, she took one look at Sonnett, her jaw dropping, "Oh my GOD! YOU'RE PREGNANT!" Sonnett's eyes widened, she spun around to face her best friend, "Wha-" Kelley came barrelling towards her, Greer still in her arms, and wrapped one of her arms tightly around Emily's shoulders, "You better name them Kelley, it works for any gender." 

"I... Lindsey?" Sonnett looked over at her wife who was frozen in the doorway, Alex chuckling behind her. "How'd you know... We only told Tobin..."

"Dude, seriously?? It's obvious! Your glowing!" Kelley set Greer down and kneeled down, putting her ear over Sonny's stomach, which let out a loud growl of hunger. Kelley stumbled back, causing Lindsey to laugh. 

"How far are you?" Alex asked, walking over to help her wife up off the ground, "About seven weeks now." Sonnett said, placing a hand over her slightly raised stomach. 

"Funnily enough," Kelley placed one hand over her wife's stomach, "We're ten weeks." 

Lindsey dropped her phone, Sonny just stared at Alex and Kelley, her turn to be starstruck. 

"Mama has a baby!" Greer screeched excitedly, trying to reach up and pat her mother's stomach. 

"Our children are gonna get married, I'm calling it now." Sonnett joked, pulling Alex and Kelley into another hug, which Lindsey, Greer in her arms, joined seconds later. 

When Sonnett was ten weeks along, Lindsey took her to the doctors for an ultrasound. 

It was the second ultrasound. The first one they did when Sonny was only about six weeks along, They were praying that this time around everything would still be looking good. This was also the ultrasound that they planned on surprising the rest of their friends and family with. Sonnett wasn't worried, sitting back in the doctor's chair with her shirt hiked up so you could see her slightly grown stomach. She had a lollypop in her mouth, sucking on it happily while her wife tugged at her hair, stressing out. 

"Come on Lindsey, everything will be fine," Emily hummed to herself, patting her stomach lightly. Lindsey shook her head, "you don't know that for sure." Sonnett rolled her eyes and leaned back, pulling the lollypop out, a loud pop ringing out across the room.

The gel was cold on her stomach, Sonnett noted. She couldn't help but shudder, causing Lindsey to shoot her hands out to put them on her wive's shoulder as a reflexive reaction to seeing her in discomfort. The ultrasound technician gave them an awkward smile, taking a look back up at the screen. 

"Congratulations, it looks like both your babies have a healthy heartbeat." The young technician smiled, looking over at Lindsey and Sonnett. 

"Oh thank God," Lindsey sighed out, falling back into the chair. At the same time, Sonnett sat straight up, "BOTH?!" Lindsey did a double-take, standing up again, staring at the awkward young woman. 

"Erm, yes," She turned to the screen, "see here we have baby A's heartbeat," she pointed at a small thumping blob, "and here we have baby B's heartbeat," she pointed to another small thumping blob just adjacent to the first one. 

Lindsey gulped, her knees knocked and she fainted, something that Sonnett recounted multiple times to multiple different people later--after they got over the initial shock of the twins in Sonnett's tummy. 

"We're having twins," Sonnett exclaimed into the phone later that day as they drove home from the appointment, Kelley's screech on the other end caused Sonny to hold her phone out an arm's length away. 

Tobin reacted similarly when they updated her. 

After they found out they were having not one but two kids, they set out on the task of informing all of their close family and friends. Both the Horan's and the Sonnett's were ecstatic that they were having twins. Ashlyn, when they told her over the phone, gasped, running around her house to find Ali so that she could also hear the news. Christen started to cry, cursing Tobin for not telling her sooner. Crystal also cried, then flew to Portland unexpectedly to give them two baby baskets. Both Mal and Sam requested to be godmothers, which Tobin shot down claiming she called dibs first. Rose thought they were talking about puppies and was disappointed to find out they were actually talking about human babies. Sonnett told Becky that both their children would be named after her before Lindsey could snatch the phone from her hand. Vlatko even called when he got word, congratulating them and thanking them for not being pregnant on a World Cup or Olympic year. 

Sonnett started to start showing more, opting to wear more of Lindsey's clothes more as they were a bit bigger. 

Lindsey couldn't get enough of it. 

She cherished the moments when she'd walk into their house to find Sonny asleep in her sweatshirt, a hand resting on her tiny baby bump. She would always gently pick Emily up, carry her to their room and place her on the bed, snuggling in behind her--one of her hands always resting on her wife's stomach. 

To no one's surprise, Sonnett's pregnancy cravings were waffles. Lindsey found herself up at two, three in the morning some nights, in the kitchen, whipping up a batch of waffles for her insomniac wife. 

But the weird thing was that Sonny had to eat the waffles with avocados, something that Lindsey was not supportive of--but made it for her anyway.

Names were the next hot topic. 

Sonnett wanted to name one kid Becky and the other one Broon, but Lindsey shot it down. 

Lindsey wanted to name one kid Jack or Jane and the other one Kassidy or Phillip, Sonnett said those names were too boring. 

Sonnett suggested Waffle, Lindsey said no. 

Lindsey asked about Janet, Sonny started singing, "Damn it, Janet!" with full choreography. 

They put off thinking about names for a while. 

As Sonnett grew bigger, so did her emotions. 

Lindsey found her crying about a spilled cup of water one night. But instead of making fun of her, Lindsey knelt down next to her wife, taking her into her arms and telling her that the broken glass would have a great time in Heaven. Even when Emily was angerly stomping through the house, screaming about wanting the baby room to be green and not yellow, Lindsey remained calm, reasoning with her unreasonable hormonal wife.

However, in reality, Lindsey was terrified she was going to be a fuck up. 

She was scared that their children would hate her, that she was going to be a terrible mom. Because Sonnett was not practicing for the Thorns, Lindsey found herself going way too hard at practice, trying to get the negative energy out of her body. She didn't want to bother Sonny with her issues because she didn't want her wife to worry about her. Tobin noticed how off Lindsey was being, especially since Sonny was taking time off. 

"Hey, Linds," Tobin approached her one day. Lindsey was panting heavily, her hand over her head as she tried to calm down her heartbeat. 

"Wassup," Lindsey said once her heart was beating at a normal tempo. 

"Are you missing Sonny?" Lindsey looked at the veteran player, confused, "Of course I miss Sonny."

Tobin stared at her for a moment, "You've been weird." Lindsey rolled her eyes, picking up a water bottle and taking a quick swig from it. "Seriously, Lindsey." 

"I'm just a little stressed, okay?" There was heat to Lindsey's tone that Tobin wasn't expecting. The older player could tell that something was still off about Lindsey--she guessed it wasn't stress about soccer. She left the subject alone, nodding along to whatever Lindsey was saying. 

Later that day, when Lindsey almost collapsed from exhaustion, Tobin texted Sonnett. 

And even later, when she got home, Sonnett had a full meal with candles, a glass of wine for Lindsey, a glass of rootbeer for herself, and a white towel acting as a table cloth. 

"Wha-what's all this," Lindsey asked, setting her bag down. Sonny smiled, "what I can't treat my favorite person sometimes?"

"No, I mean... you can," Lindsey was flustered, "I just--that's a lot of work and you're pregnant--"

"Yes, with children, not crippled," Sonny rolled her eyes, "just come sit down, dumbass."

Lindsey sat, enjoying her spaghetti dinner and the conversation with her wife. Towards the end of dinner, Emily led her into their room, forcing her down on bed face down, straddling her hips. She started to work out the tense knots in her wife's shoulders and back. "You're so tense," Sonny murmured, leaning over so her mouth was right next to Lindsey's ear, "what's wrong, baby." 

Lindsey felt a crack in her tough exterior. She couldn't help it. She couldn't hide anything from Sonnett. 

Tears started to leak down her face, it wasn't until the sobs came that Sonnett flipped Lindsey over, hugging her tight. 

"I'm going to be a terrible mother!" Lindsey cried out. Sonny shook her head but didn't speak, she just ran her fingers through her wife's hair until she calmed down. 

"You're going to be a great mother, Linds." The genuine tone to Sonnett's tone made Lindsey feel a bit better. She sighed and threw her face into the crook of Emily's neck.

"I'm scared," Lindsey stated, Sonny nodded, "Me too. But when I think about the fact that I choose you to ride out this journey with, I get less scared. Lindsey, you are going to be the best, most fun-loving, mother on the face of this planet." 

Lindsey nodded, finding comfort in her wife's warm hug. 

Twenty weeks in, it was obvious that Sonnett was pregnant. 

They, also, found out the two babies in her stomach were identical twin girls. Lindsey started to dread their teen years.

"Do you think they'll be like the Weasley twins?" Rose asked one afternoon on facetime with the couple. 

Tobin, who was over for dinner, shook her head, "No, they're gonna be like two mini Sonnetts which is gonna be worse."

Even Sonny agreed that that would be worse. 

On week thirty, Ali and Christen put together a surprise baby shower for Lindsey and Emily. 

Everyone was there, even Vlatko. He decided to dress up in a pink soccer tracksuit for the occasion. 

They also got all kinds of baby clothes, toys, and anything they needed. 

Alex, who was eight months pregnant, won the prize for the cupcake decorating contest so she and Kelley went home with a giant bag of diapers. 

When little Rowan Sonnett Morgan-O'Hara was born, Emily and Lindsey got to meet her through facetime. Sonny was about ready to burst and the image of Alex holding little Rowan while Kelley held Greer and the phone made her inch to get the twins out of her. 

Two days later, her water broke. 

It happened while she was standing up from the couch to eat dinner at the table with her wife. 

She thought she had peed herself, which wasn't totally uncommon these days, but when the first contraction hit, she knew. 

As did Lindsey--who ran into the wall scrabbling to pack a hospital trip bag. 

It was a long, difficult birth. The twins were stubborn and refused to come out the natural way. Emily was in labor for twenty-four hours before the OBGYN decided to do an emergency C-section. Lindsey was petrified but held it together for her wife. 

On October 31st, 2025, at 6 o'clock in the morning, Scout Broon Sonnett-Horan and Parker Kelley Sonnett-Horan were born. 

Three weeks early, but safe in their mothers' arms. 

Safe and loved, both in a tiny pink blanket. 

Lindsey rested her head against Sonny's as she lay in the hospital bed, Parker sleeping in her arms, Scout in Sonnett's. 

"So which one is gonna marry Rowan?"

Lindsey stifled her laugh, not wanting to wake up their newborn babies. 

"My bet's on Scout."


	3. Insomnia and Chocolate Pudding

A week after the twins were born, Sonnett sat at home, Scout on one leg and Parker on the other as they watched Lindsey play. Tobin and Christen had given the family two, costume-made, tiny Thorn's jersey. One was red, with "MOMMY" and the number 16 on the back. The other was white, with "MOMMY" and the number 10 on the back. Bagel sat at Sonny's feet, still a little unsure about the twins.

Parker was clad in the white jersey, Scout in the red jersey. Luckily for Sonny, the Thorns were playing the Orlando Pride. So, Alex Morgan was connected through skype on Sonny's laptop, Rowan in a purple number five jersey, "MOMMY" on the back. A gift from Tobin and Christen. Greer was in a similar jersey--she was lucky enough to be spoiled with two. Today, she had Alex's number thirteen on. Sonny could see her head pop up from time to time, all she could see was her strawberry-blonde hair and a pair of bright blue eyes. Sonnett could definitely hear her loud, squeals, though... whenever Kelley came on the screen. 

Sonny smiled down at her babies when Lindsey came on screen. Quietly, she pointed to the screen, "Look, there's Mama," Scout made a gurgling sound and Parker looked up at Sonnett with her doe eyes. 

"Are you gonna be a midfielder like your Mama?" Sonny cooed at Parker, who blinked at her, "Or are you gonna be a defender like me?"

"She's gonna be a striker like her favorite Aunt," Alex's voice through the computer. Sonnett scoffed, "don't put your opinions in her head."

Alex laughed, causing Rowan to start to cry. 

"Oh no, baby," Alex shushed her quietly, "It's okay."

Greer's head popped up into the frame, "Sonny! Do they like soccer?"

Sonnett laughed, "I think so," she could've sworn Scout gave her a smile. 

The Thorns ended up beating the Pride 3-2, Lindsey scored the winning goal. Sonnett gently rocked the twins, one in each arm as the television showed her wife running around the pitch, pointing to the sky. 

"AND IT'S HORAN WITH THE WINNING GOAL IN THIS THRILLING HALF," the commentators roared. Sonny smiled, trying to contain her excitement as both twins were sound asleep. 

"This win and this goal came in perfect time for Lindsey Horan," The other commentator stated, "just last week her wife, Emily Sonnett--who also is contracted with the Thorns--gave birth to twins." The camera panned down to Lindsey's boots. Parker Kelley was written on one of the cleats and Scout Broon was written on the other in dark ink. If you looked real close, you could see the number 16 on each boot as well.

Just as they panned back up to Lindsey's face, the woman had already ripped her shoes off and was pointing to them excitedly. 

"Look, mama says hi," Sonny murmured to her babies, "say 'hi mama'," Parker's eyes opened blearily, looking up curiously at her mother. 

"That was pretty epic, Son," Alex stated, Greer was now in her lap, holding Rowan under the watchful eye of her mom. 

"No hard feelings?" Sonnett smirked. Alex rolled her eyes, "No hard feelings."

"Skype on Thanksgiving?" Alex nodded, "wouldn't miss it for the world."

When Lindsey came home that night, she had been gifted two mini soccer balls by one of the fans. Stitched onto the side were the girls' names, the green one for Scout and the yellow one for Parker. 

The made a perfect addition to their nursery. 

By the time the girls turned a month old, both Sonnett and Lindsey felt as though they hadn't gotten sleep for years. Every time they got one twin to sleep, the other seemed to wake up crying. Sonnett was the one who got to deal with them the most--not from any lack of trying from Lindsey. Sonny was taking the season off, staying home with the twins while Lindsey made the big bucks. So, she made it her duty to get up in the middle of the night, even if it meant that she would fall asleep in her avocado toast the next morning. 

However, Sonny's insomnia didn't do anything to stop her from going all out for Christmas in their apartment. 

Sonny took the twins out a few times to the hardware store to get Christmas decorations. She bought anything and everything she found charming, funny, or sentimental. Matching reindeer onesies for the entire family, an elf costume for Bagel, three whole nativity sets, a pickle wreath. 

Each afternoon Lindsey got home there seemed to be a new decoration up. It amused her, she was happy that her wife was getting so into the Christmas spirit. 

Except, she was not excited to be dressed in a reindeer onesie and silver reindeer antlers. 

"Why do we have to take pictures?" Lindsey groaned, holding Scout with one hand and picking at the zipper to her onesie with the other. 

"For our Christmas card, silly!" Sonnett stated from where she stood setting up the camera. 

"Why do we have to do a Christmas card," Lindsey started to rock Scout, her daughter reaching out to grab onto her thumb, gurgling. 

"To make sure everyone knows that we have kids now."

Lindsey frowned, looking down at Scout, "Your Mom is crazy." Sonny scoffed as she stood up from the perfectly angled camera. She walked over to where Parker was being rocked in her self walking chair. She carefully picked up her daughter, "Your Mama is annoying," Sonny whispered to Parker as she walked over to stand next to her wife.

"Bagel!" Emily called, the dog came running into the room from the bedroom in an elf costume. 

The Christmas card went out a week later.

The twin's first Christmas was epic. Sonny's parents and sister came up to Portland from Georgia, Lindsey's family came up from Colorado. Kelley and Alex even came up from Florida--both of their families were vacationing for the holidays.

"Look, baby," Sonny murmured to Scout who was dressed up in her little reindeer outfit from the Christmas card, "it's your future wife." Sonny pointed to Rowan who was being held by Kelley. Kelley gasped, melodramatically. "Rowan do not listen to her, you will not be associated with these hooligans." 

Greer ran up to Kelley and hugged her leg, "Mommy, when are we opening presents."

"After breakfast, honey," Kelley responded, patting the top of Greer's head. Greer pouted and ran back to Alex--who was in the kitchen with Lindsey's mom cooking. 

The presents under the tree were piled sky-high. Most of them were for the kids. Lindsey had gone overboard with the twins' gifts. They were, also, sent multiple packages from their friends for the girls. 

Breakfast was a fest filled with eggs, bacon, sausage casserole, vegan shit for Alex, and orange juice. Greer shoved all her food into her mouth, which made Sonnett's dad laugh.

"Reminds me of Emily when she was young."

Sonny stuck out her tongue and Emma laughed loudly. "I could see it," Kelley commented, sticking a forkful of food into her mouth. "I'm sure you weren't much better," Sonnett retorted, making Alex laugh.

After breakfast, Lindsey sorted out all of the presents. Each time Greer was handed a present, her eyes lit up and she shook each one violently. After the third time she did it, Kelley placed a hand on top of her daughter's arm, getting her to calm down slightly. 

An hour later, toys and clothes were spread around the floor of the living room looking like a tornado had gone through the apartment. The twins were gifted matching Matildas jerseys from Ellie and Caitlin that were sent all the way from Australia. More Thorns gear from Tobin, and a bunch of different baby clothes and toys from everyone else. Lindsey got Sonnett a framed picture of them holding their daughters at the hospital the day they were born. Sonnett got Lindsey a neckless with an S and a P. 

As the year bled from December to January to February, Lindsey and Sonnett were starting to see the twins slowly begin to grow. The first time Scout laughed, Sonny almost pooped herself. They were beginning to roll over and sit up. The baby babble was beginning to form from just babble to what sounded more like actual words. 

But they still weren't sleeping through the night. 

The NWSL season was over and Lindsey decided to take a break from the USWNT this season to stay home with Sonny and their daughters. Her and Sonny took turns getting up in the middle of the night to feed them or rock them or sing sleepily to them. 

In the early morning of Valentine's day, Sonny was sat in their kitchen, her head slowly dropping closer and closer to the bowl of chocolate pudding sat in front of her. The baby monitor was sat next to her, all was quiet for a moment. 

And then a loud wail rang out from the baby monitor--shortly after a second one following. Sonnett's head shot up, a loud groan escaped her lips. She rubbed her eyes, a dull pain thumping against her forehead. It took a minute but she gradually stood up and walked to the twin's room. 

When she got there, she was surprised to find Lindsey already standing in the middle of the room, a twin in each arm. She looked up and winked at Sonny as she rocked slowly back and forth, humming a soft tune to the babies. Emily smiled tiredly and leaned against the doorway watching her wife rock their daughters to sleep. Lindsey gently set each twin down in their respective crib and then walked up to her wife, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers. She led Sonny back to their bed. 

"How are we gonna get them to sleep," Sonny murmured as Lindsey helped her under the covers, "It'll come with time, baby." Lindsey leaned down and pressed a slow, gentle kiss to her lips. 

In minutes, Sonny was sound asleep. Lindsey chuckled, snuggling in closer, falling asleep not long after. 

In the morning, Lindsey woke up to a large, red bouquet of roses and their daughters dressed up like hearts.

Around Easter, Scout and Parker's personalities started to develop more and they started to show their differences. Scout was reckless, not afraid to reach out and grab things to stick into her mouth. Parker, on the other hand, was shy, anxious. She began to develop a strong attachment to Sonnett, crying when her mommy had to put her down. 

"Shhh, shush," Lindsey tried to quiet Parker one afternoon, the day before Easter, while Sonny was out buying food for Easter dinner. The six-month-old just continued to wail. Scout was in her crib, her eyes beginning to water as she started to cry. 

"Oh God," Lindsey, too, was on the brink of tears, "not you, too."

When Sonny come home, she found all three of her girls in tears. Lindsey looked up at her desperately. Sonnett dropped the bags of groceries. As soon as Parker was being held in her mother's arms, her cries stopped. Once her cries stopped, Scout, who was still in Lindsey's arms, her cries stopped, too. Lindsey still had tears streaming down her face, overwhelmed. 

Sonnett looked from her daughter in her arms to her wife and other daughter who was sat on the ground, helplessly. 

The next day, despite the rough day before, the family had a lovely, quiet first Easter. Sonny dressed the twins up in plaid dresses. Parker was in a light pastel blue and Scout was in light pastel green. Too many pictures of the twins next to their easter baskets were taken on Sonny's phone. 

As the Spring washed into Summer, the twins began to start to crawl, scoot, and move on their own. Parker's separation anxiety got slightly better, now being able to be alone with Lindsey without crying her eyes out. 

Scout said her first word first. 

It was a rainy June afternoon. Lindsey was sat with Scout in her lap, a picture book in her hands. Sonnett was busy cleaning up after lunch. Parker was in her self-rocking chair. 

"Look, Scout," Lindsey tapped the picture in front of them, "A mommy duck and a baby duck." Scout reached out her meaty hands all over the picture. 

"Ma... ma," Scout said, looking up at Lindsey. Lindsey's breath hitched, "Did you... did you just--"

"Ma... ma," Scout said again, turning herself to face her mother. Parker was looking at her sister curiously. 

"Honey!" Lindsey shouted, Sonnett's, "YES?" Rang out from the other room. "C'here!" Sonnett strolled into the living wrong, drying her hands on a towel. "She just said Mama," Sonnett's eyes widened, she dropped the towel, rushing over to kneel next to Lindsey. She carefully took Scout from Lindsey, "Is that right, baby? Did you call Mama, Mama." Scout wiggled happily, giggling. 

Not a second later, "Ma... Ma" came out of Scout's mouth again. 

Parker's first words came a week later. 

She was sitting in Sonnett's lap on the couch as a silly children's T.V. show was on. Bagel was laying next to them, her muzzle resting on Sonny's thigh next to Parker's foot. Lindsey was sat on the loveseat, a book in her hands. Scout on the floor, playing with a matching shape toy. Sonny was getting very interested in the show on the T.V. She barely noticed Parker's squirming. 

"Dog dog," Parker said, patting Bagel's snout. Lindsey's head shot up. Sonny was too invested in the show to hear. "Sonny!" Lindsey wacked her wife with the book, "Huh, what?" 

"She just said dog!" Lindsey exclaimed, pointing at Parker.

"What??" Sonnett looked down at Parker, "say it again." She bounced Parker slightly. The infant giggled, reaching down again and patting Bagel's head again. 

"Dog dog," Bagel looked up at Sonny questioningly as Parker called for her again. 

"Oh my God, look at you my smart baby," Sonny whispered, tickling Parker's stomach. 

Summer melted away to reveal the soft reds of Autumn. The twins were growing exponentially. "Mama" and "Dog" were becoming daily vocabulary for them and they were finally sleeping through the night. Scout was as unstoppable as ever, almost ready to get up and walk. Parker was still just as shy but was just about ready to stand up and walk, too. Both Sonnett and Lindsey were back on the soccer pitch. They found a daycare close to the stadium, one that was fairly cheap--especially for Portland's standards. 

Being put in daycare stirred up Parker's separation anxiety again. 

Every day as they dropped her off, she would cry--the daycare teacher said for up to twenty minutes. 

As their first birthday slowly approached, Sonny and Lindsey were trying to work out ways to get Parker to feel less anxiety when away from them. They began to do short, rituals in the morning to get Parker used to them leaving. 

Their first birthday was a bash. 

It was a costume party, due to the fact that their birthday was on Halloween. Scout was dressed up like a waffle and Parker was dressed up like a burger. Rowan, who was newly one, was dressed up like a pumpkin. Greer dressed up like Sonnett, much to Kelley's disappointment. 

Sonny and Lindsey were dressed up like peanut butter and jelly toast. Kelley was Danny Zuko and Alex was Sandy. Ellie and Caitlin were there, Ellie dress like a kangaroo and Caitlin was a Koala. Tobin came dressed like a soccer ball. Sam just put her old nose/face mask on and pretended to be batman. Rose dressed up like a dog. Mal dressed up like a yellow flower.

Rowan, Scout, and Parker played with the new toys that the twins were given while the adults, except Lindsey and Alex, got slightly wine drunk and Kelley took Greer out for trick or treating. 

"Cait," Ellie placed a hand on her fiance's shoulder, "I want one of those," she exclaimed, pointing to the babies, who were all sat in Lindsey's lap while she read to them. 

"Oh, uh, okay," Caitlin said, slightly tipsy. 

At the end of the night, after everyone left, Lindsey put the twins to bed. Sonny was laying on their bed, still in her costume. Lindsey chuckled, "C'mon, baby." Sonnett lifted her head up, "You gotta get out of your costume." 

"Ya know," Sonny murmured, "you're the best mother of all time."

Lindsey's face flushed slightly, "no you're the best mother of all time."

"Agree to disagree?"

"Agree to disagree. Now let's get you out of the costume."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, my first word was dog.


	4. Mama, Moomoo, and Dog-dog

After the twins turned one, Lindsey and Sonny started to put in overtime work. The 2027 World Cup was slowly approaching, Sonny would be turning 33 years old in less than a month and Lindsey wasn't far behind. Alex, Kelley, Christen, and Tobin all had said this would be their last World Cup/Olympics. Pinoe, Ali, Ashlyn, Carli, and Becky all had retired after the 2024 Olympics and both Lindsey and Sonny hadn't been on the team since--as they were too busy having babies. 

They didn't want this to be their last World Cup together, but they both knew that anything could happen. Especially with Sonnett's flimsy ankle. 

Ali and Ashlyn had already volunteered to watch Scout and Parker during training and during the World Cup--which was in Sydney, Australia--the couple had three kids of their own--A four-year-old boy named Theodore and three-year-old twin girls named Harper and Kennedy. 

Sonny's birthday seemed to be sprung upon them randomly. 

Of course, Lindsey remembered. She went out and bought pancake batter to make a waffle dinner. It was a very lowkey birthday and Sonny wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Lindsey was an expert waffle maker by this point. The twins seemed to know that something was going on, they kept slapping their high chairs excitedly, reaching out for Lindsey and screaming, "Mama!" Bagel was at their feet--knowing that scraps would be flung to the floor. Then, Scout reached out for Sonny and yelled out, "Moomoo!" 

Sonnett, who was wearing a birthday hat, stopped what she was doing and turned to Scout, who, pleased by the attention, reached out for her again and stated, "Moomoo!" 

"Lindsey," Sonnett was shocked, "She just called me, Moomoo." Lindsey let out a laugh, "Moomoo? I guess your Moomoo now." 

Sonnett grinned excitedly, running over to pick up Scout--who's hair was starting to sprout from her head, her bright, baby blue eyes clear and mischevious. Scout squeaked happily as she was lifted from her highchair. She wrapped her chubby baby arms around Sonny's neck, pecking her on the cheek. Lindsey awww'd behind them, taking her phone out and started to take a video. She pulled her phone out at the perfect time as just as she started recording, Scout picked at the elastic strap on Sonny's birthday hat pulling it back and snapping it across her face, causing Sonny to let out a yelp. Scout giggled grabbing Sonny's cheek and pinching it. "This is abuse!" Sonny exclaimed. 

Parker, feeling left out, started to cry. Sonny, with Scout still in her arms, rushed over to Parker, "Shhhh... it's okay, baby. I'm right here." She picked up Parker with the other arm. The little girl immediately stopped crying, just in time for Scout to pull back the elastic strap again, laughed loud as her mother yelped in pain. 

Lindsey posted the video to twitter later, with the caption, "Happy birthday, Moomoo!" 

For Thanksgiving, the family took the twin's first plane trip all the way to Orlando. Alex and Kelley had insisted they come to Thanksgiving at their house--and it worked out that the Thorns were playing the Pride the day before Thanksgiving. Lindsey and Sonny, instead of staying at the hotel, made themselves at home in the Morgan-O'Hara house, planning to stay into the next week. 

"It's not a competition," Sonny bragged to Kelley as they walked through the Airport, Parker in her arms, "but they've been calling me Moomoo. Isn't that right Miss Parker," Sonny reached over and wagged her finger in front of Parker, making her squeal in laughter. Kelley laughed, "So you're a cow now? That's what I'm getting from this conversation." 

"No, they just have a special name for me, they're smart. I bet Parker will be valedictorian." Kelley rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Rowan has been calling me Dada." 

"Daddy Kelley," Sonnett smirked, "I bet that's what Alex calls you, too." Kelley sharply turned to her best friend, shoving her gently, "Not in front of the kid!" 

"Honey!" Lindsey called from behind them, "Do you have Scout's stuffed bear?" Sonny swiftly turned around, tossing a green stuffed bear into the air, "Catch!" 

Lindsey, who was holding Scout, reached up with one hand and caught the bear, "Thanks, babe!" 

"My wife is so hot," Sonnett sighed out as she turned back around, Kelley smirked, "Daddy Lindsey."

Sonnett shoved Kelley, hard, "Watch yourself, O'Hara... you don't have a baby in your arms."

When they got to the house, Alex Morgan, with Rowan in a baby carrier on her back, greeted them. Greer ran into the living room from the kitchen, chocolate all over her face, "SONNY! LINDSEY! SCOUT! PARKER!" The child screeched, Kelley's eyes widened. She turned to her wife, "you gave her candy?!" Alex smirked, "Just a little bit." Kelley groaned, "I gave her candy earlier!" Alex's face dropped, "She's playing us." 

Greer was already trying to climb up Sonny's leg when the couple turned back around--her strawberry-blonde hair tied up in a tight Alex Morgan-Esque ponytail. Rowan was watching the interaction, carefully, from her perch on Alex's back. Her own short, pale, blonde hair was in a tiny ponytail, too. 

"Lemme see my favorite nieces!" Alex exclaimed as she turned to Sony and Lindsey. Carefully, Scout and Parker were placed into one of Alex's arms. Scout curiously looked from Alex to Rowan, who was peering over Alex's shoulder back at her. Parker reached over and grabbed onto Alex's neckless. Kelley couldn't help but pull out her phone and snap a quick picture. 

Which, of course, went up on twitter a minute later. 

The Thorns ended up tying with the Pride. Greer, Rowan, Scout, and Parker got to sit up in the stands with Alex's, Ashlyn, and Ali's parents--Along with the Krieger-Harris kids. Alex's mom took great joy in being able to watch the twins. "Look there are your Mamas!" She exclaimed, swaying back and forth with a twin in each arm as she pointed at Lindsey and Sonnett. Scout giggled, Parker whined reaching out to grab them. 

On Thanksgiving, Rowan, Scout, and Parker were each dressed up in a special costume. Rowan was a potato, Scout was a pint of beer, and Parker was a turkey (which made Alex's mom very happy). Ashlyn and Ali's kids were also dressed up--but much more formally. 

Ashlyn was sitting on the ground, surrounded by all the children, reading a children's book about Thanksgiving. Theo was in her lap, Harper was sitting on one side of her, Kennedy on the other. Greer was sat, criss-cross at her feet, her eyes attentive. Sonny was sat next to Greer with Rowan and Scout in her arms, Parker in her lap. Sonnett was extremely focused on the story, probably the most focused out of any of the children. She didn't even seem to notice when Scout started licking her cheek. 

Ashlyn was just such a great storyteller. 

Kelley also got a picture of this, posting it on twitter and calling Sonnett out for being the biggest baby. 

Scout, Rowan, and Parker seemed to really enjoy each other company. While the adults sat and drank, they sat on the floor, giggling as they tossed little stuffed animals at each other. Theo and Greer were running around the house like two excited hydrogen molecules, chasing each other. Kennedy and Harper were waddling around, following their brother, their motor functions not as fully formed. 

Scout figured out her love of mashed potatoes that Thanksgiving. She loved them so much she smashed her face into her plate. Parker figured out that you could stuff green peas up her nose, which she did happily until Lindsey caught her and chastised her for it. 

It was the first time they met the Kreiger-Harris kids. Parker was a bit wary of them, especially Theo. Scout immediately took to Kennedy and Harper--happily clapping and throwing crayons at them while they were trying to color later in the night. 

When the Sonnett-Horan clan got back to Portland a few days later, it was back to the regular grind--except now with a Christmas tree and a bunch of decorations in their apartment. Each member of the family, including Bagel Bongo, had their own custom made stocking made by Emily's sister, Emma. Sonny's stocking was decorated in a bunch of waffles, her name in the same font as Waffle House. Lindsey's stocking had a knitted print of her and Sonny holding two little babies. Scout's stocking was of a lovely pale green bird while Parker's had a pale yellow bird on it. 

About halfway through December, it was clear that the twins were getting ready to walk. Sonnett got excited every time Scout would stand up on her legs, holding onto the couch as she wiggled around trying to balance herself. Parker was much more careful, but also would be found crawling up to a chair and pushing herself up onto her legs. Lindsey and Sonnett made a bet on which kid they thought would successfully walk first. Sonny thought that Scout would walk first, being the more reckless of the two. Lindsey bet on Parker, going more on the successful part. The mother who was correct had to make the other a fancy meal before... ya know... sexy time. Each night, Sonnett would spend an hour or two trying to get one of them to walk into her arms. Parker would shuffle her feet around, not taking any step and then fall over and catch herself with her arms--crawling rapidly to her Moomoo. Scout, on the other hand, would attempt to take a step then completely fall flat on her face--scaring the shit out of both of her mothers. 

Until one night, Sonny sat on the ground her arms out wide in front of her. Parker was standing, holding the couch, watching her mom carefully. Scout sat next to her, giggling and squealing happily as Sonny clapped her hands, trying to beckon Parker towards her. Parker carefully took a first step, letting go of the couch. She, then, carefully hobbled her way over to Sonnett, who was glowing with excitement as her daughter fell into her arms. Sonnett looked at Lindsey, who smirked at her. 

"Guess you're cooking," Lindsey said, Sonny smile dropped off of her face.

The next night, Sonny cooked a full meal--or at least she attempted to. She mashed some potatoes, which were a big hit with Scout. She almost burned some steak. She boiled broccoli and carrots. She presented the dish well--with a swipe of barbeque sauce for styling points (that helped out later in the bedroom). 

A few days later, Scout was able to make it to Sonny without falling flat on her face. 

Lindsey cooked dinner that night.

Sonnett and Lindsey made the Jan Camp roster. They found out right before Christmas. The training camp was set to be held in Florida. Lindsey and Sonny were hesitant but agreed that Ash and Ali were the best choices to help watch the girls while they were training, as they were only a few minutes away from the training grounds. It was going to be weird for Sonny and Lindsey to be away from the twins for more than a day.

For Christmas, Scout and Parker were gifted two White USWNT jerseys, one with nine and the other with fourteen, 'MOMMY' on the back of both. They were also given two new stuffed animals, baby kangaroos from Ellie and Caitlin. Scout's was green and Parker's was yellow. Sonny got a new waffle maker, Lindsey got a shirt that said, "I married the hottest woman in the world" with a picture of Emily throwing up a peace sign. 

The day before Jan Camp started, Lindsey stood in Ali and Ashlyn's living room, a book of notes in her hands. 

"Scout likes mashed potatoes, so if you find it in yourself, she would appreciate it if you made her some at some point. Parker has a little bit of separation anxiety, so if she starts to cry, I brought one of Emily's sweatshirts, she can hold it or... if she continues to cry just call us. One of us will answer... unless we're in practice. You can drive to the training facility... though... Vlatko would understand--"

"Linds," Ashlyn placed a hand on Lindsey's shoulder, "it'll be okay." Lindsey let out a loud huff, looking down at the stroller. Scout and Parker looked up at her, confused. Sonny stood back, behind the stroller, her arms crossed uncomfortably. Lindsey kneeled down taking each twin out of the stroller and placing them down on the ground of the living room. Logan and Stormy, from the other side of the room, perked up. They carefully made their way over to the twins, Logan lied down, her large, droopy face looking up at Scout, curiously. Stormy sat down next to Parker, giving her face a lick. Parker giggled, reaching out and hugging the dog, squealing, "Dog-dog!" 

Lindsey, already emotional, tears in her eyes, laughed, "Yes, baby, that's Stormy," Parker looked from her mom to the dog, clapping happily. Scout pouted, looked at her mom. She crawled over and wrapped her arms around Lindsey's neck. Sonny was still standing back, her arms crossed. Ashlyn saw her friend's eyes start to water, though. 

"Alright, babies," Lindsey broke out of Scout's tight grip, "be good for Aunt Ali and Aunt Ashlyn." Scout looked at Lindsey, confused. Parker was too busy kissing Stormy. Lindsey leaned down and kissed each of her daughters on the forehead, whipping tears from her eyes as she stood up. Sonny walked over and picked up Scout, who looked like she was on the verge of crying, she started rocking her back and forth, "Mama and I will be back soon," Scout whipped her snot all over her mom's cheek, a small, soft, "Moomoo" came out of her mouth. Sonnett's breath hitched and she just hugged Scout a little tighter. 

After putting Scout down, Sonnett picked up a whinny Parker up and gave her a hug. The girl was much more interested in the dog, though. 

The ride back to the hotel was quiet. 

All through the camp, Ali and Ash were sending pictures of the twins. Some of them with Logan and Stormy, others with Theo, Kennedy, and Harper. The kids seemed to be getting along great. When they could, Lindsey and Sonny would drive over to Ali and Ash's to say hi to the girls. Each time they walked into the doors, the smiles on their daughters' faces gave the couple serotonin to last for years. 

After a long, grueling Jan camp, the family flew back to Portland and things went back to semi-normal. 

Winter bled into spring and the twins were beginning to grow, fast. Lindsey started to style their hair into two little pigtails. Their vocabulary was growing. They called their little baby stuffed Kangaroo's, "Roos," which is also what they began to call Ellie and Caitlin--all due to Sonny's influence. Though they were still calling Sonnett, "Moomoo". The soccer balls they got when they were only a week old were beginning to be used. Scout would pick her's up and throw it--usually at her sister. Parker would kick her's, following after her moms. Lindsey likely to match their outfits but put them in different colors. She would style them like tiny fashionistas while Sonnett's favorite outfit to put them in was a shirt with Bagel's face on it and jeans. 

Sonnett and Lindsey were named to the 2027 World Cup roster in May. 

In June, they traveled to Sydney to compete against the other World Cup qualified teams. Parker and Scout came a few days later with the Kreiger-Harris family and their grandparents. The twins spent part of the time with Lindsey and Sonnett's family and the other part of the time with Ali and Ashlyn. 

The first game was against Italy. 

Parker and Scout, on Grandma Horan's lap, watched as their Mama scored two goals--pointing to them in the stands each time. Each time the crowd erupted in cheers, Scout clapped happily and Parker wiggled even happier. Greer, who was sat right behind them with Rowan and Alex's parents, leaned over and asked, "Do they know that Aunt Lindsey scored?" Lindsey's mom laughed, "Yes, I know they do."

After the Italy game, The Sonnett-Horan family were paraded around Sydney with Ellie and Cailin. They took the babies to the Tarango Zoo, where they got to see real-life, "Roos". They went to the beach, where the twins got to see the sea for the first time. Ellie and Cailin took them out to a nice restaurant afterword where Scout smashed her face into a plate full of mashed potatoes. 

Later that week--when Australia was playing Japan--the pictures of Scout and Parker in Matilda's jerseys while sat in the stands with their mother's, both wearing USA gear, went viral. 

The next big game was against Sweden. 

It was a rocky start. Sonnett getting a yellow card within the first ten minutes of the game. Christen and Alex each scored, but Sweden tied it in the second half. With minutes left in the game, Rose came in and scored the winning goal. 

"FUCK YEAH," Ashlyn yelled, coving Scout's ears. Ali glared at her, Parker giggled. 

The US played Brazil in the Semis. They won 2-0. 

It was the US vs Spain in the finals. 

The day of the big game, Lindsey made sure to write "Parker Kelley" and "Scout Broon" on her cleats. Sonnett forced her to write Fourteen as well. 

In the stands, Pinoe made sure to line up all the kids on the bench. She ordered them in height order; Greer, Theo, Kennedy, Harper, Rowan, Scout, and Parker. She took a picture from the back, making sure to get the numbers of the jerseys. She posted it on Instagram with the caption, "Ready to watch our mommies and aunties play!" 

It was the second picture of the twins to go viral during that World Cup. 

As expected, it was a close game. 

Alex scored the first goal in the first half. Brazil scored right back. Mal scored a goal at the end of the first half, Brazil scored a goal at the beginning of the second half. 

In fact, it was Sonnett with the winning goal--half the stadium screaming their heads off as Emily Sonnett ran around the stadium, straight to the stands, reaching up to hold her babies as red, white, and blue confetti rained down on them. Parker in one arm, Scout in the other, Sonny twirled around, "Look, babies, this is for you." Scout squealed, "Red!" grabbing at one of the pieces of paper that fell close to her face. Parker hung on tight to her mom, her eyes to the sky in wonder. 

Soon after Lindsey, rushed to them, her arms wrapped tightly around her wife as she held their two most important trophies. 

"Remember last time we felt like this," Lindsey whispered into her wife's ear, Sonnett smiled, remembering the 2019 World Cup, when she never thought she would get with someone as beautiful as Lindsey Horan, then the 2023 World Cup where she got down on one knee, asking her one true love to be hers forever. Sonnett turned slightly, her forehead resting against Lindsey's. 

"It's you. It's always been you that makes me feel like this."

Later that night, the third picture of the twins went viral. 

One where they were reaching up to the sky, fascination on their faces as they caught the confetti, safe in their mom's arms while she was turned toward Lindsey, their foreheads resting against each other... an intimate moment for the world to see.


	5. Two Terrible Twos

The highlight of the World Cup celebrations was Sonnett and Lindsey taking their kids everywhere they went. 

Every picture of Sonny or Lindsey had one of the twins in it. The USWNT stans were starting to call the two babies the team mascots, along with Greer and Rowan. Photoshops of the baby's faces circulated around the web. Theories about which child would be a defender and which would be a midfielder traveled along with them. Most people seemed set on the theory that Scout would end up as a defender and Parker would be a midfielder. 

Apparently, Scout was already giving off frat daddy energy. Well, frat baby energy. 

Sonny and Lindsey spent an extra few days in Sydney with Ellie and Caitlin. Sonny and Lindsey went out for a date night a few times and let Ellie and Caitlin babysit the girls. It seemed beneficial for both parties. 

The day before they were supposed to fly back to the US and do press with the rest of their team, Ellie and Cailin took them all out to a family-friendly dinner in Sydney. The girls were extremely excited to be given coloring sheets to scribble on while the adults were chatting. 

"Look! Moomoo!" Scout screeched, pointing down at her sheet that was covered in millions of insensible scribbles. Sonny looked down at the drawing, pride covering her face. "Look, Mama," Lindsey looked over, "we have an artist!" Scout wiggled happily in her seat. Parker was too focused on her drawing to care. Caitlin, however, leaned over to look at Parker's sheet, "Looks like you got two artists, mates." Sonny and Lindsey looked over at Parker's coloring sheet and smiled. Parker's was much neater, her coloring was inside the lines and even though green and purple were an odd choice to color a tiger--it wasn't the chaos that Scout's random scribbles were. 

"They're so cute," Ellie cooed when the girls went back to work on their projects. "When are Mrs. and Mrs. Foord-Carpenter gonna have one of their own?" Sonny smirked, Caitlin and Ellie looked at each other sheepishly. Lindsey caught on quickly, "No way!" Sonny, oblivious Sonny, was confused, "No way, what??" She looked between her two friends and her wife, confused. 

"We're only a few weeks," Caitlin kept her voice down, a soft hand on Ellie's stomach. "Few weeks along with what?" Sonny leaned forward, her eyebrows creased in concern. Lindsey smacked her wife in the back of the head--not hard, but not really soft either. "They're pregnant, dumbass," Sonny's eyes lit up, "Oh!!"

“A little baby Aussie,” Sonny smile got wider, “oh my God, they could marry one of the twins!”

Lindsey sighed and rubbed her temples as Ellie and Caitlins’ mouths dropped. “Stop trying to play matchmaker! The twins aren’t even two!” Lindsey hissed at her wife, who winced and shrugged.

The girls just giggled as they took turns chewing on the end of a purple crayon--not knowing the excitement of the new beginnings of the family in front of them. 

When they got back to the United States, there were a plethora of media outings lined up. Some even including the twins. The first time Scout and Parker were on TV was a hot Friday morning in August. It was the Today show. Sonny had managed to wrestle them into little LFG shirts. Kelley, Alex, and their kids were also on. Greer had her strawberry blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail with a bright pink headband that made her look even more like Alex. Rowan's hair was starting to get thicker, just like the twins, except instead of a golden blonde her hair was more pale white in color. She had Kelley's eyes and freckles. 

Even though the twins were identical, there were still slight differences in their appearance. Parker was a little bit shorter than Scout--Lindsey thought it was because Scout sat up straighter--Scout had slightly darker blue eyes and they both had a mole on their cheek but Parker's was on the left while Scout's was on the right. 

The entire interview, Scout, Rowan, and Parker took turns pulling on Greer's hair and laughing--which made for a very unhappy older sister. Eventually, Kelley noticed and grabbed Rowan to move her away from the problem. But that still left the twins, who viewed Greer as an older cousin of sorts. They continued their game of pulling the seven-year-olds hair until she whipped her head towards them, then they would laugh. 

Edited videos of the twins and Greer later went viral on twitter. 

As the August heat washed away into the cool fall tones of September and October, the girl's were growing exponentially as were their attitudes. 

Sonnett and Lindsey were still training harder, working hard both at Thorn's practices and with the National team. So, each afternoon, when they picked the girls up from daycare they were exhausted. And each day, as they got to the daycare, they were met with two hyperactive, almost two-year-olds who had just gotten up from a nap. 

So they would go home. More often than not Sonnett would try not to pass out on the couch while Lindsey made dinner, the girls playing with anything from barbies to legos. If Sonny did fall asleep, it wasn't unlikely for her to be woken up by one of the twins screaming and crying because of something the other one did. So she would groan and slink her body to the floor, dealing with the situation, sometimes having to put one of them in time out. 

It was hard to teach them to share with each other. Scout wanted everything to be hers and Parker cried every two minutes.

After dinner was Lindsey's favorite time of night. Rose had gotten them all of the illustrated Harry Potter books and Sonnett had started reading a chapter or two to the twins every night before bedtime. It was like clockwork. At seven every night, Sonnett would stand up and look at the girls, crossing her arms. "Who's ready for Harry Potter?" Emily would say, her voice low, exciting. Whatever the twins were doing--even if they were screaming and fighting--they'd stop, look at each other, look at Sonny, and rush over to their room. Sonnett would chase them, squeals of excitement escaping Scout and Parker's lips when they'd hear their mom's heavy footsteps following them. Scout would always pull out the book while Parker jumped into one of their beds. When Sonny reached the doorframe, the girls would be sitting right next to each other--bright grins on both their faces as the book was laid out in front of them. 

Sonnett would pick up the book and lay down on her side on the bed. Scout would always be behind her, her elbows digging into her mother's side as she leaned over to get a good look at the book. Parker would always snuggle up in between Sonny's chest and the book, sticking her thumb in her mouth and resting her head on Sonny's bicep. Once they were all situated, Sonnett would start reading. 

The twins didn't really understand what was going on in the story, Sonny could tell. She knew that when they were a little bit older she would have to reread the series and that they would have a deeper understanding of the words on the page. However, for now, Sonny would happily read to them while they shouted out the names of the things on the page--colors, animals, pieces of clothing, whatever they could see. 

Lindsey would usually sneak in about half-way through a chapter and lean on the side of the doorway, watching them in adoration. Sometimes she would snap a few pictures and upload them on to twitter later. 

When Sonny was done reading, she would put each twin in her right bed. She would pick one of them and get into the bed, cuddling in next to her and begin to rub her head. Lindsey would come into the room and lay down next to the other twins, doing the same thing. 

Rubbing their heads, Lindsey and Sonny, found, would relax them, eventually lulling them to sleep. When the twins were finally asleep, the two mothers would sneak out of the room quietly and share a glass of wine, maybe watch a quick show and be in bed by nine o'clock. 

On Halloween, the twins turned two. 

This year, in lieu of their newfound love of Harry Potter, the Sonnett-Horan family dressed up as Harry Potter characters. Parker and Scout were the Weasley twins while Sonnett was dobby (much to Lindsey's dismay) and Lindsey was Harry. 

Plus this year was extra special as Rowan was also being celebrated. The two families deciding to have a joint birthday party. 

Each girl got their own mini cake. Scout decided to smash Parker's head into hers, which made her burst out into tears. Sonny tried to hold back her laughter as she scolded Scout and Lindsey comforted Parker. Rowan was just chilling, smashing pieces of cake into her mouth. 

Rose got lots of pictures. 

October turned into November, which seemed to drone on and on until it was December. 

Sonnett found that with the girls being slightly older, they seemed to have a newfound appreciation for the spirit of Christmas that was very much alive in their household. 

On the first day of December, Sonnett started to decorate the house in festive reds and greens. Parker loved putting up the gel, sticky reindeer on the windows. Scout spent forever looking through all of the little Christmas Santa books that Sonny had bought a few years prior. Lindsey made hot chocolate for everyone and Emily made sure that all the best Christmas tunes were being blasted through the apartment. Later that afternoon, Lindsey helped the twins make felt angels with sparkles and the names of their friends. The one with Kelley's name had a little too much glitter, but Kelley loved it all the same. 

A few days later, for the first time in the twin's life, it snowed. Lindsey and Sonny got them all bundled up, with two matching scarves--Scout's was green and Parker's was yellow. They took the girls outside and taught them how to make snow angels and build snowmen. Sonny even showed them how to make and throw snowballs at Lindsey. Lots of family pictures of them in the snow were shared on Instagram later that evening. 

When the girls got too cold, Lindsey and Sonnett took them inside. Lindsey made them hot apple cider while Sonny helped them with a reindeer puzzle. Later that day they got to watch Rudolf the Rednose Reindeer. Giddy excitement exuded through their tiny bodies at the thought of the upcoming holiday. 

Later that month, Sonnett dragged them to a Christmas tree farm a few hours away from Portland. She let the girls pick out which tree they wanted. They picked the smallest, wimpiest looking tree in the entire lot. Sonnett proudly cut it down, carrying it over her shoulder as she went to get it weighed and pay for it. 

It barely held all their ornaments, but it was the thought that counted. 

On Christmas, the Sonnett-Horan crew traveled all the way down to Georgia to celebrate with Sonny's parents. Emma had just given birth to a baby boy about a week prior so it would be their first time meeting the new baby cousin. His name was William and he was so very small, Sonny thought as she held him tight to her chest. 

She was sitting on the couch, a twin on either side of her. She looked down at her newborn nephew, then to her toddler daughters who seemed to be growing up right before her eyes. Part of her wanted another baby. Part of her didn't. But she didn't dwell on that long. She was too infatuated with her sister's child, Willy. 

They took a family picture. All of them dressed up in matching pajamas according to family. Emma, her husband, and baby William were dressed in red, plaid pajamas. Sonny's parents had on green and red striped pajamas. Lindsey, Emily, the twins, and Bagel had gold and silver polka dots on their pajamas. Later, they got a picture of the twins and William on the couch with Bagel sitting next to them. 

They, also, were able to get pictures of everyone decorating different shapes of Christmas sugar cookies. For Santa, of course.

All the pictures went up on all social media later, of course.

That night, the twins were excited to go to sleep. They ended up in their beds, tucked in by seven in the evening, their minds full of hopes and wishes for the next day. 

At four in the morning, Scout and Parker woke up when they heard their Grandpa walking around in the kitchen. They smelled coffee and decided to investigate. Carefully, they both slipped out of bed, creeping around the corner and up the stairs. They peered through the railing, watching their Grandad move around the kitchen, a mug of coffee in one hand and a book in the other. 

They weren't as quiet as they thought, apparently, because their grandfather chuckled and turned around, "Excited are we?" 

Scout squeak and tried to cover her head to hide from her grandpa. Parker just stared up at the older man in wonder. "Come over here, girls." The twins came bounding up the rest of the stairs, coming to a screeching halt in front of their grandad. "Look over there," he set his mug and book on the counter, squatting down to their height, pointing over to the living room where their stockings were filled to the brim with toys, more presents under the tree. Scout shook in excitement while Parker jumped up and down.

"Now, in a few hours when your mommies and Aunt Emma and Willy are up, we're gonna open those. But right now would you two like to watch the sun come up with me." Scout and Parker looked at each other, then at their grandfather, nodding. 

He walked them over to his special chair that sat facing the window, letting them climb up into his lap. Slowly but surely, the sun peeked over the mountain. The twins watched and listened to their grandpa tell stories about himself as a kid as the birds began to chirp and the earth seemed to wake up. 

A few hours later, they felt like they were on the top of the world as all their new toys laid out in front of them but they also had a newfound respect and love for their grandfather. 

As the excitement of Christmas drained away, Lindsey and Sonny began to train even harder for the upcoming Olympics. The USWNT was on a path of vengeance this year, none of them wanting to get silver. 

Los Angles was hosting the 2028 Olympics, which was a blessing in many ways. It might that most all of their family would be able to come. 

For January Camp, Scout and Parker were sent all the way to Colorado to spend time with Lindsey's parents. Scout and Parker were nervous to be away from their moms for so long, but their grandparents made it all okay. Each morning, their Nana would let them help her make breakfast--which almost always included some time of toast with jam and butter. Their Papa would randomly swoop them into his arms and start singing a random tune, which always made them giggle. 

They even got to go to the Zoo one day. Their Nana packed them all a picnic of bologna sandwiches, potato chips, and grapes. Scout decided her favorite animal was a monkey. Parker liked the elephants. They both went home with a new stuffed animal that day. 

Their Nana and Papa had a big hot tub in their backyard. Every night the twins got to change into their swimsuits and go swimming with their grandparents in the hot tub. It was a lot of fun. Their Papa taught them how to float on their back and stay afloat. 

When they were reunited with their moms, they started to ask if they could have a hot tub. 

As January turned into February, and February turned into March, the girls were taken on various trips to watch their mommies play for the national team. They were at an age where they were starting to understand soccer and what was actually happening. When Lindsey would score a goal, both girls would stand up and start to shake their bodies in celebration. 

Sometimes they got to be on the bleachers with the rest of the fans, sometimes they were up in a compartment. Every time they squealed a little bit when they saw one of their mommies do something cool. 

In fact, their entire spring was filled with soccer games. 

From the SheBelieve's cup to the Olympic qualify games, their lives were undoubtedly filled with soccer. Both girls being to develop a want to be like their moms out on that field. No matter where they were, whether it was home in Portland or on the road in a hotel room, Parker and Scout would be playing with a soccer ball. It didn't take their moms long to notice their new hobby. 

"You think we should sign them up for something next year?" Sonny asked one April day in a hotel room in Chicago as she slipped on her white kit for their game. Parker and Scout were on the floor in between the two beds, kicking a ball back and forth. Lindsey smirked, crossing her arms, "I mean we could start to keep them, too."

"After the Olympics?" Sonny lifted an eyebrow, Lindsey nodded, pulling on her shorts. 

"I bet you I can teach them better than you." Lindsey scoffed. 

"You're on, Mrs. Horan," Sonny lifted a challenging eyebrow, "It's a bet, Mrs. Sonnett."

"What's the winner get?" Lindsey inquired, pulling on her quarter zip. 

"Hmmm, winner gets to wear the strap." Lindsey's eyes bulged out of her head, "Sonny! Not in front of the kids!"

"They can't hear! Plus, they don't understand. Right Scout?" Scout stopped what she was doing for a split second and looked up at her mother, confused, "See! I told you."

"Fine... You have a deal."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When I was a kid, I used to get up at four in the morning with my grandpa and watch the sunrise. It's one of the best memories I have with him.


	6. Soccer Stars

The 2028 Olympics were insane.

It was a redemption year. They won gold--Alex, in true Alex Morgan fashion, scoring the final goal with minutes to spare pushing them to beat France 3-2.

There were tears. So many tears. 

Kelley was kneeling on the ground, tears streaming down her face, taking it all in. It was her and her wife's final national team appearance. Sonny was crouched down next to her best friend, one hand on her back, the other wiping turf from the woman's jersey. "C'mon Kell, we gotta celebrate. Our sexy wives are waiting for us." Kelley choked out a laugh, looking up to see Alex holding Greer and Rowan walking towards her--a gigantic grin on her face but her eyes were slightly clouded. Lindsey was only a few steps behind Alex, running in short strides, bent over, as the twins were on either side of her both holding one of her hands. Sonny helped Kelley up right before children were being shoved into their arms, both their wives pushing them to go celebrate with the rest of the team. 

Scout, Greer, Parker, and Rowan all got to stand on the podium. Scout was in between Sonny's feet, watching curiously as her mother let a few tears slip, bending her head to let them slip a gold medal over her neck. After the medal was placed, Sonny bent over and picked up her daughter--her pride and joy. "Moomoo, shiny," Scout murmured, reaching down to fiddle with the gold medal around Sonnett's neck. Sonny let out a loud, choked, laugh, nodding. "This is everything I've been dreaming about, baby," Sonny whispered to her young daughter, "do you see that flag," she pointed to the giant American flag that rose high in the sky. Scout nodded. "That means we did it, baby." 

Sonny heard her other daughter giggle a few people down. She looked over to see Rose Lavelle with Parker in her arms, Rose had taken the medal from her neck and placed it around Parkers. Sonnett made eye contact with Lindsey--who was stood next to Rose. Her wife had pure joy painted across her face, pointing down to the gold medal around her neck and mouthing, "we did it!" Sonny chuckled, feeling another rush of tears come to her eyes as she nodded. 

"No cry," Scout pouted, reaching her chubby toddler hands out to wipe Sonny's tears, "no cry, Moomoo." 

"Happy tears, baby," Sonny leaned forward to press her forehead against Scout's, "they're happy tears." 

And when the national anthem started playing and Sonny choked out a few sobs, Scout was sure to latch her hands around her mother's neck and press the side of her head tightly against Sonny's cheek, watching the flag wave in the wind, looking around to see the people singing along so loudly in the stands. 

It was one of those childhood memories that stuck with Scout throughout her life. She never forgot the way her slightly big, number ten, national team kit felt on her body or the smell of her mom's shampoo that day. Or how heavy the medal was when Sonny put it around her neck about half-way through the national anthem. 

And it was the same for Parker who was lucky enough to be in her Aunt Rose's arms the entire time, being swayed along to the rhythm of the song. Her Mama glancing over at her every few seconds giving her a funny face to make her laugh. And later that night when they were sitting on their mothers' laps on the bus ride back to Olympic Village when Caitlin Foord facetimed Lindsey to congratulate them on their win, Parker always remembered the way her Mama held the phone out in front of her, whispering, "do you see that? That's baby Scarlett." Her Aunt Ellie holding up a pink, wrinkly baby to show the camera. 

It wasn't until the beginning of October that things seemed to calm down a little bit. 

And, then, Kelley facetimed Sonny while she was in the middle of making dinner (pulled pork sandwiches and mac and cheese) on a cold, rainy October day in Portland. The girls were happily doing a puzzle with Lindsey in the living room. Sonnett was a little surprised to see Kelley's name and contact photo pop up on her phone. She whipped her hands on her apron and answered it nevertheless. 

"Hey Kell, wassup?" Sonny asked as her best friend's giddy face popped up on her phone screen. Kelley had a wide, mischievous grin on her face. "Why do you look like that?" 

"Guess what." Sonny gave her an odd look, "what?" 

"Alex and I are moving to Portland." Sonny widened her eyes in shock, "You're doing wha--"

"And we're having another kid." 

"Kelley what!?" Kelley gave her a cheeky grin, then turned the camera onto Alex's face who looked slightly annoyed at her wife's antics but nodded her head, "It's true. We're moving in December, I'm a few weeks along," Sonnett stared at Alex, who was giving her a sly grin, "That's why you're not playing for Orlando right now?" Alex nodded, Sonny turned her attention to Kelley, "And you, are you gonna retire from the NWSL?" Kelley shook her head, "Maybe soon, I'm being traded to the Thorns. Alex will be, too."

Sonny's mouth dropped open, "Are you serious?? How??" Kelley shrugged, "I was sick of traveling back and forth between Utah and Florida and I asked for Alex and me to be traded to the same team. Seems like Portland was the only team to have two spots opening up after this season." Sonny felt excitement tingling in her bones, "I gotta go tell Lindsey!" Sonny rushed into the living room, shoving her phone into Lindsey's face, "Here listen to this." Lindsey looked apprehensively at Sonny before carefully taking the phone from her hands and looked into it, Kelley's cheeky face looking back at her. 

"We're moving to Portland and Alex is pregnant again," this time Lindsey's eyes widened, she quickly looked up at Sonny who nodded excitedly. "Holy shit," Parker and Scout looked up, "shit?" Sonny made an involuntary noise, "Oh my God, Lindsey, you taught them the S word."

Parker cocked her head in confusion, "shit?" Sonnett could hear Kelley's cackle from the phone. "No, no, no that's an adult word, only mommies get to use that word." Lindsey rushed out the words, trying to save her ass. Parker seemed to think about it a moment, then nodded. Scout shook her head, "shit, shit shit." Sonnett scowled, "Scout Broon. Listen to your mother or I will put you in timeout." Scout quickly shut her mouth, looking back to the puzzle. 

"Ooooooo, mama bear Sonny," Kelley chuckled, "but yes. Lindsey, buckle up because the O'Haras are coming to town." Sonny could hear Alex call out, "Morgan-O'Haras!" 

It was an exciting time in the Sonnett-Horan and Morgan-O'Hara households.

The twin's birthday was on a rainy Saturday. 

This year they didn't have a big, extravagant party as they had had in years prior. The main guess of evening was Ellie and Cait--who flew out from Australia. They brought little baby Scarlett, who had just turned three months, with them. Both Scout and Parker found the little baby fascinating. It didn't help that she had on a little monkey costume (Ellie and Cait had an Aladin theme going on). Parker was gentle with the baby, asking to hold her (which Lindsey took lots of pictures of). Scout, on the other hand, kept tugging on the tail of her costume, causing her to almost fall off the couch once. 

"Scout no!" Sonny remanded, picking her daughter up so she was away from the situation, "We don't pull baby Scarlett's tail like that. If you do that you're not going trick or treating this year." That made her start to cry, pushing away from Sonny.

"Hold?" Parker asked, holding her arms out, wiggling her fingers so the adults knew what she wanted. Lindsey sighed, carefully bending down so pick up Scarlett for the fifth time, putting her gently into Parker's arms. "Baby," Parker cooed, hugging the infant close to her chest. 

This year, the Sonnett-Horan clan was dressed up like Marvel characters. Lindsey was Thor, wearing a tank top that showed off her huge biceps. Sonnett was Captain America with a handmade shield that she proudly painted. Scout was dressed up like Hulk and Parker was Spiderman. 

Scout behaved herself for the next hour, which earned her the privilege to go out and trick or treat. Scarlett came, too, and Parker was almost as obsessed with her as she was with the candy. After a solid hour and a half of walking around the best Portland suburbs, they returned back to the house, had cake, and let Parker and Scout open presents. 

The got a mini soccer goal and kid's soccer balls. 

Sonnett and Lindsey looked at each other. A flashback to their bet back in August flashed to the top of their heads. 

So the next day, training began. Ellie, Cait, and Scarlett came to watch. 

Lindsey was first, trying to teach the girl's footwork. They were more interested in flopping onto each other and onto the ball. 

Sonny's strategy was to try and get them to learn how to head and dribble the ball. However, every time Sonny gentle threw the ball over to Scout instead of heading it she would grab the ball and hold it. Parker seemed to understand the concept a bit more but was much more interested in scoring goals. 

"I think you got a goalie on your hands!" Caitlin called out, motioning to Scout--who had just full out dove for a ball. "And Parker might make a good Forward." 

Sonny muttered silently to herself, "Of course, a goalie and a striker." Lindsey looked over at her children proudly. 

The spent the next few hours practicing and practicing, both girls never seemed to grow tired of it. By the end of the day, all four of them were cover from head to toe in grass stains and there was no clear winner in the Lindsey vs Sonny bet. 

"This isn't over, Horan!" Sonny whispered in her wife's ear as they were exiting the park, "I will beat you." Lindsey shrugged, "You wish, Mrs. Horan."

November flashed by in what seemed like seconds. Thanksgiving was at Sonny's parent's house this year, though, and Sonny got everyone to dress up in scratchy wool sweaters. Plus, Scout and Parker got to meet Sonny's parent's new puppy--which was very exciting for them. 

Then... came December. 

On December 3rd, the whole family flew to France to watch Lindsey be presented with the Ballon d'Or Feminin. Lindsey and Sonny showed the kids around France, recounting stories about the first world cup they played in together. Scout tried snail for the first time (Parker had already eaten one off the sidewalk). Both Scout and Parker were photographed holding the trophy in various spots around Paris and posted to Sonny's Instagram. All in all, the family got to spend a week in France. It was a great vacation for them. Everything in Sonny and Lindsey's life seemed to be going so fast, the girls were already three and in that time they had already gotten their fifth star on their shirt and won a gold medal. It was nice to slow down a little and spend time showing their daughters around the world they knew before they were born. 

On their last night in Paris, after they had gotten the girls to go to sleep, Lindsey and Sonny sat on the balcony of their hotel room. There was a table with a glass of wine and two glasses between them as they looked out into the city. It was a beautiful view, the dull lights of Paris city life almost put them into a trance. 

"Do you want another kid?" Sonny spoke in a low tone, an intimate tone. Lindsey looked over at her wife, a thoughtful look on her face, "Why are you asking?"

"I just..." Sonny stammered, glancing away for a moment, "Kelley and Alex having another kid has got me thinking about our future... Y'know." Lindsey hummed in response and thought a moment before answering, "I always wanted a ton of children. Like a small army," Sonny chuckled at the thought of a small army of Lindsey's, "but now? I don't know, Son. I don't really wanna mess up the mojo we have going right now." Sonny nodded, "Yeah... I get it. We can think about it... how about that?"

Lindsey nodded, reaching over to grab her wife's hand. They sat in a comfortable silence for a long while, watching the stars and watching the Paris city lights flicker before their eyes. 

Almost as soon as they got back, Alex and Kelley were moving into their new house in a suburb not far from where Lindsey and Sonny's place was. Both Sonny and Lindsey took time out of their day to help their friends move, making the mistake of bringing the twins with them. Parker sat, cried, and pouted the entire time while Scout and Rowan picked on her. Greer, who was already eight, was being extremely helpful with her mothers--especially Alex who was already showing slightly. 

"Scout! Stop picking on your sister!" Lindsey yelled, "Or I will put you in timeout." Greer looked up at Lindsey, her puppy dog blue eyes were shiny, innocent, full of hope. Her hair was slightly less blonde and definitely redder. "Aunt Lindsey, do you want me to watch Parker for you?" Lindsey sighed and looked over at Kelley who shrugged. Alex gave her a slight nod of approval, "sure hon, why don't you go read them a book?" Greer gave Lindsey a front toothless smile, bounding over to the toddlers, grabbing a picture book on her way. 

'Damn, Kell. She's growing fast. It seems like yesterday that I was holding her in the hospital," Kelley sighed and nodded, looking over at her oldest. "You're telling me. She's already in third grade. I feel like tomorrow she's gonna be in cap and gown." Sonny looked over, Parker, Scout, and Rowan were all quiet, listening intently to the older girl read stories to them. "Y'know she's already playing for a U10 soccer team? We have her playing baseball, too. She's so athletic," Alex said, Sonny rolled her eyes, "No shit sherlock. She's the daughter of two of the best soccer players in US history." Kelley gasped, clutching her heart, "Sonny, I had no idea you thought so highly of us." Sonny rolled her eyes and kicked at Kelley's feet, "shut up, I'm gonna miss you on the national team." The mood turned slightly somber until Alex perked up, "but hey, ten-minute drive from ours to yours!" Sonny grinned slightly, "you're right. Free babysitting for us." Kelley made a face. 

As the adults finished unloading boxes and started to unpack the essential items, Greer continued to grab the younger kid's attention. After they were done reading, they played house. They built a puzzle, they played a little bit of soccer. It was the beginning of a new normal. 

Christmas that year was at Kelley and Alex's new house. A lot of familiar faces showed up; Broon, Alyssa, Ash and Ali, Sam, Rose, Mal, even Vlako showed his face through a skype call. It was nostalgic for Sonnett. Being back in Paris with Lindsey had brought up so many good memories. It was a time where she and Lindsey were both pinning after each other so hard it seemed unreal that they didn't get together until two years later. Sonny remembered the way Rose would always pull her aside, giving her pep talks before she'd go over and talk to Lindsey. And now, as Sonny sat in a chair in the living room, the weight of the metal of the wedding ring on her ring figure, watching Rose sit on the floor with her and Lindsey's children sat in her lap while they excitedly showed her their new toys she thought about how time seemed to be moving so fast. She missed the days where she could stay up all night with Sam and Mal, scouring the internet for memes to send to Rose, giggling so hard they were sore the next day. She missed the days that she and Lindsey seemed to be playing some kind of game with each other's feelings. She missed the feeling of the new, fresh love that she and Lindsey had when they first started dating. 

However, as she sat there, watching Scout pretend to hit Rose in the head while Parker laughed loudly at Rose's facial expressions. She grinned, thinking about the future waiting ahead of them. About the girl's starting school, about all the soccer tournaments that she and Lindsey would have to sit through, maybe even coach, about watching their daughters walk across that graduation stage in cap and gown. Sonny smiled, a warm feeling spreading across her chest that wasn't the hot chocolate that sat next to her or the horrendous Christmas sweater she had on. She sat there and thanked God for all her fortunes in life. 

December bled into January--the girl's stayed with Alex and Kelley while Sonny and Lindsey went off to Jan Camp--then it was February and then March. Lindsey thought that looking up into the stands and seeing her daughters in her and Sonny's numbers never would get old. Especially now that they were starting to understand the game a little bit more. So, when Lindsey scored a goal against Germany and she looked up into the stands, she could clearly see Kelley hoisting Scout and Parker onto her shoulders so they could cheer louder for her. She pointed at them and then pointed at their names drawn on her shoes, making a heart with her hands. 

The US won, of course. 

At the end of March, Alex had a baby shower. They were having another baby girl, "thank God," Kelley said, "I'm not sure how a little boy would survive all this estrogen." Sonny gave her a little mini Emily Sonnett jersey, "So she knows her hero loves her back." Lindsey gave her more useful things like baby bottles and a little stuffed elephant. 

April brought a lot of showers and a lot of trouble making on Scout's end. She was sent to timeout at least once a week doing something mischievous like spraying shaving cream all over the house. In May, Alex was at eight months and was eating everything. There seemed to be an at least weekly movie night at the O'Hara household where the grown-ups switched off getting drunk (except Alex) and the kids watched Disney movies and sometimes Tobin even joined the fun. The twin's first official sleepover was at the O'Hara household in May as well. One night, in a drunken stupor, Kelley and Sonny drew out massive plans to go to Yellowstone and camp as a family within the next few years. When they presented their plans via PowerPoint to their wives, both agreed to it once the baby turned at least one (they were also set on inviting at least a few of their former national team members). Then, in June, Kelley, Lindsey, and Sonny all made bets on when they thought that Alex would pop. Kelley, the Stanford grad, did calculations and guessed the baby would come on the twentieth. Lindsey thought that the baby girl would come sooner, more likely the eighteenth. Sonny guessed the twenty-fifth. Winner of the bet got a pack of beer. 

Sonny was ultimately right. 

Little Frankie Maureen Morgan-O'Hara was born early, early in the morning on June twenty-fifth, 2029. When she came home from the hospital, Sonny and Lindsey took the twins to see her, "You have to be gentle, okay? Scout?" Lindsey made direct eye contact with Scout through the rearview mirror. Scout nodded her end. Parker asked for the millionth time, "what's the baby's name?" Sonny sighed and replied, "Frankie, honey." 

Besides Lindsey and Sonny, Parker was the first one to hold baby Frankie. Scout watched from a few feet away. She kept looking over to Rowan who had a slightly constipated look on her face. Scout heard her Aunt Alex whispering to her mother about how Rowan wasn't taking the news that she wasn't the youngest so well. 

Sonny picked Scout up and placed her next to her sister, carefully. "Are you ready, Scout?" Scout blinked up at her Moomoo and nodded, hesitantly. 

When Frankie was placed into Scout's arms, she was gentle. She had never seen a baby so small before. It scared her a little bit. However, true to her word, Scout held the infant carefully, looking up at her mothers when they brought out their phone to take a picture.

And Scout wondered to herself if she would ever have a baby sibling, like Rowan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more soran babies? no more soran babies? what do y'all think?


End file.
